


All is Fair in Love and War

by saltyalmonds



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Angst, Background Relationships, Feelings Realization, Love Confessions, M/M, Military Inaccuracies, Minor Original Character(s), Missions Gone Wrong, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, maybe? - Freeform, most likely doesn't follow the mw timelines oops, still dont know how to tag things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27004408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyalmonds/pseuds/saltyalmonds
Summary: Gary never cared much for close relationships, he usually held people on a long lead, never willing to let himself get close to anyone. It was just something he got used to when being recruited into the task force but something in him just always seemed to click whenever Ghost was in the picture.What that exact feeling was, he didn't know and frankly, he didn't see a problem with keeping it that way. However, with a couple close calls and just being partnered up more frequently with Simon in general, Gary is starting to learn just exactly what that feeling is and he isn't so sure if he'd rather keep it to himself or let it out. He was never one for getting close to others anyway, so why was Simon any different?
Relationships: Dunn/James Ramirez, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Simon "Ghost" Riley/Gary "Roach" Sanderson
Comments: 65
Kudos: 58





	1. The Crash

**Author's Note:**

> gonna be completely and utterly honest, i do not 100% know where i am going with this, like it's kinda loosely planned out but not entirely but it's too late to turn back now!  
> also, pretty much none of this is gonna be beta read almost everything i write is never beta read bc we die like men  
> there will also most likely be extra/side soldiers who are original characters. some may be recurring while some will not  
> 

“ _RPG!_ ” 

That was the last thing that Sergeant Gary ‘Roach’ Sanderson had heard before everything went to hell. 

They had expected to run into some obstacles during the extraction but nothing could have prepared them for the absolute chaos that awaited them just outside the base’s territory. The enemy were already waiting for them, poised with rocket launchers and other weaponry. 

By the time the sergeant’s English counterpart yelled out the warning, the helicopter had already been struck, the tail left in a mangled mess as soon as it came into contact with the rocket. 

He remembered the absolutely deafening alarms blaring over his headset and the horrible flashing red lights that warned them of complete engine failure. He remembered tearing said headset off of his head as he attempted to find somewhere steady to keep himself from falling out. He remembered the pilots frantically yelling into their comms as the helicopter continued to drop, spinning wildly out of the sky and down into the trees below.

When the sergeant came to, he could see the helicopter’s broken and bent rotors lazily spinning above him, smoke slowly rising into the air. As he began to grow more aware of the situation he was in, he also became more aware of the numerous wounds on his body as a rush of pain came in and everything hit him straight on, almost like a head-on collision with a speeding train. 

Gary gave a feeble attempt to move his head. As he slowly lifted it, his entire body screamed at him to just lay back down but he persisted. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he was able to lift it just a few inches off the snow-covered ground. Looking down at his body, he noticed that he was pinned by a large piece of metal that had become bent when the helicopter had crashed. Quietly mumbling to himself, he laid his head back down and closed his eyes, darkness overtaking him once again.

The sergeant was unsure of how much time had passed between him closing his eyes and him waking up to somebody lifting the metal away from his body but he didn’t care. All he knew was that he no longer felt a crushing weight pinning his legs into the ground and God was he glad for it. 

As he attempted to blink away the daze he was in, a figure loomed over him. He could just barely make out who it was but the quick flash of an all too familiar skull design was enough to tell him who the stranger was. 

“Roach?” There came that English accent that Gary was expecting.

Then came another figure, a patch on his jacket able to tell the sergeant that it was one of the pilots. 

Simon knelt down closer to Gary, examining his body. He could all but wince at the state of the other man. 

“Roach, mate, you think you’re good to stand? We gotta move outta here, bastards are probably looking for us right now.” The Englishman awaited any sort of response and was met with a weak nod from the wounded soldier. 

Motioning with his head for the pilot to come help, both men carefully helped the sergeant onto his feet. 

As soon as he stood up, even more pain rushed in and he groaned in discomfort but no matter how horrible he felt, he pushed himself on, with the support of both the other soldiers he was able to stand. However, the fact that they were currently in ankle deep snow didn’t make it any easier.

The sound of a crackling radio alerted the trio but they all relaxed when they realized it was one of theirs. 

Simon reached for the small radio that was attached to his jacket and brought it slightly closer to his face as the accented voice of their captain came from the other end, “Ghost, come in, are you lot alright?”

“Yeah,” Simon took a quick glance back at the wreckage of the helicopter, “for the most part we are.” 

There was a split second of silence before the captain continued, “how bad?”

“Helo’s completely fucked. Me, Roach, and Ace are the only bastards alive.” 

“Shit, okay-”

“How about you? You all still there?”

“Yeah, rocket missed us by the skin of our fuckin’ teeth but we took a lot of small arms damage, landed a bit of a way’s off ‘cause the engine had been shot to shit.” 

“Bollocks, well, what the bloody hell are we gonna do now? They’re definitely already lookin’ for us and we can’t stay here forever, especially with that storm coming in.” 

“I already called in for another extract but the bastards can’t come in with the storm, we’re going to have to wait it out.” 

Gary watched as Ghost and Ace looked at each other, both of them thinking the same thoughts of confusion and worry. 

Simon spoke once more into the radio, “and how the hell are we going to do that? We’re in the middle of bloody nowhere!”

As Soap replied, his voice was beginning to cut out, “There’s a bunker- abandoned- Soviet. I’ve sent you- coordinates. Meet- there.” 

“Shit… come in, again? Soap? Hello?! Fuck.” 

Mumbling something only to himself, Simon fumbled for a small phone-like tracker that was stored within an inner pocket of his jacket. Luckily, the coordinates had been sent through before the incoming storm could completely cut out the transfer. The Englishman punched in the coordinates and watched as the tracker marked the location. It wasn’t too far, only about a mile or so but with the sergeant being as badly wounded as he was, the deep snow, and the approaching blizzard, that single mile was definitely going to become longer. 

Ace, the remaining helicopter pilot, looked to Simon for what to do. The lieutenant, looking up from the tracker scanned the land ahead of them. He then took a quick glance back down again at the tracker and then back up at the land before pocketing the object. 

Simon gave a forward motion with his head, signaling for the other man to scout out the area. 

The pilot didn’t hesitate as he carefully removed Gary’s arm from his shoulder which was followed by him readying his gun which had been hanging around his back. Ace then jogged off ahead of the pair, the white camouflage of his jacket slowly disappearing between the trees. 

Watching as the pilot went off, Simon then turned his attention to the wounded sergeant who was just barely trying to keep himself awake. 

Looking around, he slowly made his way towards a large fallen tree that was some ways away from the helicopter. Carefully, Simon let the sergeant down, leaning him up against the tree. 

Gary hadn’t even realized that they had moved until he felt something being wrapped around his leg. 

“Ghost?” Gary strained to speak and he just about doubled over in pain as he got the lieutenant's attention. 

“Yeah?” Simon didn’t even look up from where he was now wrapping a bandage around the sergeant’s left arm. He was positive that the American had also broken a bone or two somewhere in his body but at the moment, he couldn’t do much besides bandage him up. 

“S-shouldn’t you be using this stuff on y-you and Ace, t-too?” Gary could all but barely whisper his words as he strained against the pain he felt in almost every part of his body. 

At the other man's question, Simon only scoffed, "You really don't need to be worrying about us, mate. Now shut it and hold still." 

Compared to Gary, both Simon and Ace were practically left unharmed. Simon had been lucky and managed to tumble out of the helicopter before it smashed into the ground while Ace had been sitting opposite the side that had been crushed by the crash. However, he was unsure if he'd be able to forget the pained cries of his co-pilot who he had tried but was unable to save.

“There, those should hold until we get to the others,” the sound of Simon’s voice quickly booted Gary out of his thoughts and the sergeant looked over himself to find various areas of his body bandaged, his right leg being the worst out of his injuries, blood already beginning to turn the white cloth red. 

Laying his head back against the fallen tree, Gary could feel himself growing tired once more. Though the bandages that Simon had applied would help stop any more bleeding, he was sure he already lost a lot. On top of that, he was growing colder by the second. A loss of blood mixed with an incoming blizzard was definitely not the best thing to pair together. Not only that but his jacket was pretty much ripped and tattered, having been torn apart by the initial crash. 

Feeling his eyes once again grow heavy, he looked over towards Simon who was knelt over him looking out towards the treeline, awaiting the return of the helicopter pilot. However, before Gary could even think about letting his eyes close, the lieutenant was already giving him a light shake to wake him up, grabbing him by the sides of his arms. 

“Hey, stay with me, this isn’t the time to be taking a bloody nap.” 

Doing his best to stay awake, Gary looked up at Simon, the sergeant able to see the Englishman’s piercing glare through his dark-tinted sunglasses. Though, sharp and intense, he could see the worry and concern behind it all and he found himself staring into the other man’s eyes a bit longer than he should have. However, neither of them pulled away until the sound of approaching footsteps caused Simon to quickly stand up, rifle brandished and ready to attack. 

Thankfully, those approaching footsteps belonged none other than Ace, the helicopter pilot. 

Lowering his weapon, Simon watched as the pilot jogged closer. 

“It looks clear, for the most part. With the storm, our tracks will be fairly covered, anyway.” Ace spoke quickly before his attention turned towards Gary, his gaze falling upon the injured soldier. He motioned towards the sergeant with a small nod of his head, “How is he?”

Following the pilot’s gaze, Simon looked down at the sergeant and let out a heavy sigh, “He’s holding up well enough,” the Englishman paused and briefly looked up at the darkening skies, “but we’re all going to be dead soon enough if we don’t start moving, let's go.” 

Kneeling down, Simon hooked Gary’s arm around his shoulders and helped the American to his feet while Ace watched closely, quickly taking point without any further questions. 

“Come on,” Simon quietly urged Gary on, making sure that his grip on the injured man’s arm was tight and that he was close to his body. 

Soon enough, the trio was on their way, making their trek through ankle deep snow, the sky growing darker and air growing colder by the second as the storm made its approach.


	2. Wait Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 2 bb let's fucking goooooooo  
> also, just want to say thanks to everybody who reads my shitshow of a fic bc i appreciate yall so much

It had taken not even less than 5 minutes for the entire landscape to be enveloped in a blanket of white as the storm finally rolled in and among that blanket of white were the trio of soldiers, slowly trudging along making their way to the bunker that MacTavish had given them the directions to. 

“Fucking shit, I can barely see anything,” the pilot would mutter, lifting an arm to shield his face from the piercing snowflakes that felt like they were stabbing him everytime they were blown into his skin. 

“Just shut it and keep moving,” Simon spoke up from somewhere behind the helo pilot, Gary still hanging onto him, just barely keeping conscious. 

At this point, Simon was mostly dragging his injured companion as Gary grew weaker by the second. Numerous times the American would stumble, his step faltering which would cause Simon to stumble as well. However, the Englishman remained upright, continuing to support the sergeant, quietly urging him on every time he felt Gary begin to slip from his grasp. 

What was really only a few minutes already felt like hours. 

However, what seemed what would be like a fairly simple journey from point A to be point B would soon be interrupted as Ace, who was leading the two, suddenly stopped in his tracks, holding up a fist as Simon paused a few inches behind him. 

“What?” There was a sense of urgency in Simon’s voice as he questioned the pilot but would be met with silence as Ace carefully lifted his weapon, slowly moving forward. 

The lieutenant wouldn’t need any further explanation to understand the situation and he quickly found an area to lean Gary up against. 

Pushing aside some bushes and branches, the lieutenant slowly lowered Gary down and leaned him up against a large rock that was hidden among various types of vegetation, the white camouflage of his jacket helping to blend him in. 

“Wait here, alright?” Simon would quietly order the sergeant who would reply with a weak nod. 

Quickly looking behind him and then back towards Gary, Simon suddenly took off his thicker outer jacket, draping it around the wounded soldier, making sure that it was secure and wouldn’t slip off his shoulders. Before Gary could even react, Simon was already gone, leaving in the direction of where Ace had gone. 

It would soon just be Gary and nothing but the sound of the howling wind and falling snow. He would continuously urge himself to stay awake, his eyes growing heavy with every passing second. However, he would soon lose the fight and once again, darkness would take over. 

* * *

Something had snapped Gary awake and the sergeant just about jumped when he was awoken but by what, he wasn’t sure. 

Looking around, Gary did his best to shake away the daze he was in and found himself still in the same spot that Simon had left him in. 

Moving to straighten his position and prop himself up a bit higher, he felt something slip from his shoulders and looked to find Simon’s jacket still on him. 

_Oh…_

Gary had forgotten that the lieutenant had given it to him and he slowly adjusted it, not daring to let it fall from his shoulders. 

Speaking of Simon… where was he? 

The American slowly moved his head left and right, trying to notice if he could hear or see the Englishman but alas, he was met with nothing but the sound of the wind. He was unsure of how long he had been out but by the look of the snow that was slowly building up on top of his legs, head, and shoulders, he was sure that he had been out for a while and that definitely did not mean anything good had come to Simon and Ace. 

“Fuck…” Gary muttered under his breath as he attempted to stand, using the rock behind him as support. 

Leaning up against it, he looked down at himself, the bandage that was around his leg now completely stained red. Muttering various swears to himself, he slowly moved forward, completely underestimating the pain of his injury as he stumbled, almost falling face first into the snow. However, he was lucky enough to catch himself on a nearby tree and he leaned himself up against it to try and regain his strength. 

“Come on… _come on…_ ” Gary quietly spoke to himself, doing his best to urge himself on. 

After about almost a minute of being leaned up against the tree, he continued on, slowly limping along as his eyes scanned the ground for bootprints. 

Luckily, it didn’t take long for him to catch sight of Simon and Ace’s trail, their prints already being slowly filled with snow. 

Looking ahead of him, Gary narrowed his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t see anything but white and the occasional silhouette of a tree. However, that didn’t stop him and he continued on, putting all the strength he had left in him to move forward. 

Once in a while, the sergeant would stumble and fall, biting down on his tongue to muffle multiple pained cries. No matter how many times he fell, how many times he stumbled and how much pain he was in, he continued on, continuously urging himself on, pushing himself to keep going. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the boot prints of the two soldiers soon became fresher and more recent but as he moved forward just a few more feet, they would end up jumbled in a bunch more different prints and Gary soon felt a newfound strength in him as his pace quickened, using nearby trees to catch himself on whenever he felt like his legs were going to give way. 

“Ghost! Ace!” Gary gave a feeble attempt to call out the names of the two soldiers but of course, he was met with nothing but the sound of the wind. 

Once again, he called out but quickly found himself doubling over in pain, coughing from the strain he was putting on both his body and on his throat. 

“G-God fucking damnit…” Gary knelt down in the snow, trying to gather himself together. He felt completely helpless. Everything was in pain. He wanted to do nothing more than just lay down right there and let himself drift away but he couldn’t… he wouldn’t. 

After a few seconds, Gary was back up but quite clearly weaker than before, his right arm held tight against his body and his limp even more apparent than before. 

Then, he heard it, Simon and he instantly perked up. 

However, his excitement and joy would soon turn into concern when he heard a heavy Russian accent following after Simon’s voice. 

Quickly hiding himself behind the trunk of a large pine tree, he quietly listened to try and pinpoint where the voices were coming from. 

“Fuck off!” Anger, urgency… it sounded like the Englishman was in trouble and Gary felt a sudden rush of adrenaline rush through his body. 

“Why… won’t… you just… die!” The Russian voice soon came after. It was clear that both Simon and the unidentified Russian were in a struggle and Gary quickly left his hiding spot, blindly walking through the snow, following the sounds of struggle coming from both Simon and the Russian. 

Finally, he would come across the two. Simon was pinned down in the snow with the Russian on top, a knife aimed at the Englishman’s throat, Simon putting as much strength as he could into pushing the weapon away. 

Gary tried to yell out and get the enemy’s attention but a sudden sharp pain within his ribs caused his voice to falter and his yell was reduced to nothing but a pained whimper as he fell over, clutching his chest with both his arms. 

As soon as his body met the ground, all the pain in his body rushed in and he grit his teeth together to make sure he didn’t cry out in pain. 

_Goddamnit, not now!_ The sergeant would think to himself as he laid in the snow, practically immobile. Slowly turning his head to face where the two soldiers were still struggling, he could just make out the tip of the knife as it neared Simon’s throat, coming ever so close to piercing right through it. 

Clenching his jaw, Gary reached down to his hip where the holster for his sidearm was situated. Flipping open the top, a worn-out black and brown handgun would come to his hand and he aimed it straight at the enemy soldier’s head, his vision going in and out as his aim on the man’s head swayed back and forth. 

Slowly, he squeezed the trigger and the gun almost flew out of his hand as the bullet left the barrel, hitting the Russian square in the side of his head. 

Gary watched as the Russian soldier fell sideways and off of Simon, the Englishman completely taken by surprise as he looked over at the enemy’s body. 

With a sigh of relief, Gary laid his head down into the snow, his arm going limp as his grip on the gun loosened. The sergeant watched as Simon looked his way, the Englishman quickly pushing himself up and running to his aid. However, from that point on everything was a blur as all the strength in his body had practically left his system. The adrenaline from earlier now wasting away. 

He had heard his name be called and his body was picked up from off the ground and hauled up onto Simon’s shoulders. He had heard the sound of Ace’s voice and the jumbled words of both the pilot and the lieutenant as they conversed with one another. However, he was unable to really pick up on what they were talking about as he continuously went in and out, every time the three of them were in a different location whenever he came to and he was unable to pick out what exactly was going on but he would finally let himself rest as his eyes closed and his body fell limp against the lieutenant's shoulders.

* * *

“Well, when in the hell is this bloody storm going to end then?!” 

“When it bloody fucking feels like it! I can’t control the goddamn weather, Ghost!” 

It was… bright. 

That was one of the first things Gary noticed when he opened his eyes. The second thing was that it was warm. It was bright and it was warm and God he was glad for it. Looks like they were able to make it to that bunker, after all. However, one thing he definitely wasn’t glad for was the angered accented voices of Simon and MacTavish arguing with one another that had woke him up and he groaned in irritation. 

“Shut… up…” Gary quietly mumbled and the bickering men suddenly stopped. 

“Roach?” Simon was quick to Gary’s side, his figure blocking the light as he leaned over him. 

“Yeah?” Gary would meekly reply and he watched as Ghost’s figure relaxed but would soon tense up as he backed up away from where he was laying down. 

“Are you fucking daft?! I told you to wait where I left you!” 

“Wh-” 

“You could have died!” 

Gary carefully propped himself up on both his elbows, his body still aching with pain all over, “ _I_ could have died? I saved your ass.” 

“I-” Simon quickly shut up, his eyes averting Gary’s gaze as the sergeant smirked. 

The two would soon be interrupted as MacTavish spoke up, “Glad to see you’re not dead yet, Roach. As for you, Ghost, I’d advise you to leave him alone. Let him rest.” 

“Just… was glad to know that he was alright... “ Simon quickly simmered down, clearing his throat as he finished speaking. 

“Did you cry?” Gary would butt in.

“Shut it-” Simon growled as he gave a playful sideways glance towards the sergeant. 

The sergeant would simply chuckle at the lieutenant's reaction but quickly stopped as a dull pain pierced through his abdomen. 

Their captain would only sigh and shake his head as he motioned for Simon to leave the sergeant be. 

Hesitantly, Simon stood up from where he was sitting next to where Gary was situated. The sergeant watched as the two exited the room Gary was in, Simon giving one last look over his shoulder at the injured soldier, Gary not hesitating to meet his gaze. With that, the lieutenant and the captain were gone, having entered into a separate area, leaving the sergeant alone. 

With a sigh of contentment, Gary closed his eyes, and let his body relax against the wooden table he was laying on top of. 


	3. Jackets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a short one today  
> 😎 also managed to finish mw2 remastered on veteran few weeks ago  
> I never wanna play through 'Takedown' ever again that mission was an absolute nightmare on veteran and it will forever be haunting my dreams 😎😎  
> happy belated holidays sorry this took so long, ran into hella writer's block and also ngl got distracted by video games as well as l00+ overdue school assignments but that's whatever  
> got the next chapter in the works, however

At first, Gary had thought his arrival at the abandoned bunker had all been a dream and that perhaps he was actually dead but the blinding glare of the same bright light that welcomed him when they had first arrived told him that none of it was a dream and that he really was safe, along with Simon and the rest of the surviving team. 

But, God, did his whole entire body fucking body hurt. He had completely forgotten about the helicopter crash and the fact that his body was practically covered in wounds. At that moment, Gary actually wished he _was_ dead because of the amount of agony he was in. The fact that he was laying on top of nothing but an old wooden table definitely did not make things any better. 

Carefully, the sergeant sat up, leaning back on his elbows as he attempted to gauge his surroundings. As he did, he noticed that a jacket was laid upon him like a blanket and a quick glance down at it showed that the jacket, in question, belonged to none other than Simon. He slightly smiled, his mind going back to the first time the Englishman had lent the sergeant his jacket, however, he was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of a creaking chair from somewhere in one of the corners of the room. 

Turning towards the source of the noise, he spotted a familiar figure situated on the piece of decaying furniture. 

“Ghost?”

As his name was spoken, the Englishman lifted his head and looked towards the sergeant. Seeing that the other man was now awake, Simon suddenly perked up, “Roach?” the lieutenant then stood up and made his way to Gary’s side, “how you feelin’, mate?”

Gary scoffed as he slowly and carefully swung his legs around to sit at the edge of the table that was facing his companion while placing said companion’s jacket aside. 

“Like shit…” the sergeant cringed as he slowly set his feet onto the ground before continuing, “How long we been here, anyway?” 

“Not sure, few hours at most.” Simon reached down towards his left wrist to check a watch that was situated just underneath his sleeve. As he did, Gary couldn’t help but notice that absence of the man’s sunglasses. It was a bit hard to see the lieutenant’s face with how his head was angled but Gary was able to catch just a glimpse of the Englishman’s hazel eyes.

He had only caught himself staring when Simon shifted and looked up from his watch. Gary was quick to pull his gaze away.

Simon huffed, looking towards the door that was left slightly ajar. 

“That bloody storm’s been calming down, thankfully. We were able to reestablish connection with command while back, said they’ll be sending exfil at a clearing near here.” 

“At this time?” Gary raised an eyebrow in question which was met with a shrug from Simon. 

“Asked the same bloody thing since we only have a few small torches on hand and don’t want our arses being spotted but they assured us it’d be better to do it now.”

Gary could only laugh, “Easy enough for command to say, they aren’t the ones freezing their asses off over here.” 

Moving a bit, Gary positioned himself to stand up but as he put weight onto his injured leg, the sergeant felt himself lose his sense of balance and had it not been for Simon, he would have most likely been up close and personal with the ground. 

_“Fuck…”_ Gary inhaled sharply through gritted teeth as Simon quickly caught the soldier.

“Yeah, might wanna hold back on using that leg of yours for a while, mate.” 

“No shit... “ The sergeant quickly shifted his weight to his uninjured leg, allowing Simon to help keep himself propped up. 

Carefully, the lieutenant helped Gary sit back down on the table. As he did, a knock came to the door of the room and both soldiers watched as it opened up. 

In the doorway stood, Ace. The helicopter pilot motioned behind him as he spoke, “We’re getting ready to leave,” he then looked over towards Gary, “how’re you holding up?” 

Gary simply shrugged in response, “I’m doing as well as a man with a cut up leg can be.” 

“So, pretty good then,” Ace would reply sarcastically which would be met with an even more sarcastic laugh from Gary. 

The sound of footsteps would soon cut in and the trio would be joined by MacTavish who situated himself next to Ace.

“Glad to see you’re doing alright. Hope Ghost over there didn’t give you any trouble. Couldn’t keep the bastard away, kept insisting he stay right by you.” 

MacTavish’s statement made Gary slightly tilt his head in curiosity as he glanced sideways at Simon who tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal for him wanting to be at the sergeant’s side. 

“Anyway,” the captain would continue, “I need you lot done and prepared, we’re leaving in five.” As he turned to leave, he patted Ace’s shoulder as a signal for the pilot to follow after him. 

It would then just be the two of them once again.

“Well, come on, you heard ‘im.” Simon reached out as Gary carefully set his feet back onto the ground, being careful to not put too much weight on his injured leg. The sergeant gladly accepted Simon’s offer for help as he leaned up against the other man. 

Gary watched as Simon took back his jacket from the table all while thinking back on what their captain had said. _He insisted on it?_ The sergeant could only smile at the idea of Simon persistently talking MacTavish into letting him stay by his side. 

Simon wasn’t one to let Gary’s smile slip by and the Englishman raised an eyebrow at the sergeant’s expression, “Hell you smilin’ about?” 

“Ah, nothing, just the thought of you being so persistent on wanting to be at my side is all.” Gary teased all while Simon simply sighed, helping lead the sergeant out of the room. 

“Never thought you for that sort of person. Rather seem like a guy who would rather just fuck off, go clean your gun or something,” Gary would continue. 

“I am that kind of guy, just…” Simon paused for a few seconds, the two of them continuing on down the short hall into the main room, “it’s just as if I’m going to just let you stay there by yourself, you were practically dying, mate.” 

“Little Ghostie’s all worried, aww.” Gary snickered while Simon shot him a sideways glare. 

As the pair made their way into the main room of the bunker, they were met with the sight of everyone getting ready to leave. All of the soldiers of MacTavish’s team were already ready to go, weapons brandished and jackets on ready to brave the cold. As for Simon and Gary’s third addition, Ace, the pilot was just finishing up speaking to what Gary could only conclude was their exfil. 

MacTavish turned his attention towards Gary and Simon when they arrived and nodded his head in acknowledgement. “Just waiting on, Rook. Sent him to scope the place out.” 

Simon nodded at the captain’s words. Seeing as they still had some time left, the lieutenant helped Gary lean up against a nearby wall as he got ready to put on his jacket. However, he would pause and eyed the sergeant who raised an eyebrow in question. 

“Your jacket,” was all that Simon said, all while motioning towards the tattered piece of clothing that Gary was wearing. 

Gary looked down at it and then back up at Simon, a look of question still painted on his face. “Uh, yeah? What about it?” 

As the sergeant questioned Simon’s intentions on mentioning his torn up jacket, the lieutenant was already handing him his jacket, motioning for Gary to take it. 

“Take yours off, we’ll trade.” 

“What?”

“That crash mess your hearing up, too? Take my bloody jacket and I’ll take yours.” 

“I- why?” 

Simon sighed heavily as his arm fell to his side, tired of holding the jacket up. “Yours is all fuckin’ ripped and broken, you’re not going to get any protection from the cold wearing that. Just… take mine.” 

Gary scoffed, “if mine’s all ripped up why do you wanna trade?”

Simon sighed again, throwing his head back in irritation. “God, that nickname of yours really fits, y’know? Annoying little bug, you are. You’re hurt, you need a better jacket. I’ll be fine, just take the bloody jacket.” 

Before Gary could say more, Simon suddenly butt in, “Unless you don’t want it?”

“I didn’t say anything about not wanting it! Jesus, just…” Gary leaned slightly forward and took the lieutenant’s jacket while taking off his own to trade off with Simon. 

Simon’s jacket was a bit bigger on Gary since he was of a more muscular build than the sergeant, however it was also just a few inches shorter since Simon was also the shorter of the two. However, he did have to admit, it was way better to be wearing a jacket that wasn’t all torn up. 

As he had made sure it was fitted comfortably on him, the door to the bunker opened up and in came Rook. The Australian soldier motioned with his head for the group to leave and that was all that was needed for everybody to start getting into position. 

Simon and Gary situated themselves in the middle of the group, as they were one of the most vulnerable while Ace kept close behind them. Members of MacTavish’s team formed up the rest of the group while the captain himself took up the front. With that, the group of soldiers made their way up and out of the bunker and back out into the cold, dark forest.


	4. Back at Base

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the long awaited update  
> apologies for the long waits, working on like several other fics at the same time and also just life in general

Luckily, the forest wasn’t completely overtaken by darkness thanks to the snow that served to reflect the light that slipped through the trees from the moon and stars. However, it was still dark enough to cause the group to stay on edge, eyes scanning their surroundings. Besides the light that was given to them by the environment, their only other source of light was one working flashlight that was just barely clinging to life that MacTavish had attached to the barrel of his gun. 

They walked in a single file line, each member placing their hand on the other in front of them so as to not lose each other. Perhaps it was not the safest way to be moving in such an environment as this made them all stacked up against each other but with such limited visibility of the area around them, it was the best they could do as they did not want to risk losing anymore soldiers. 

If they weren’t currently deep in enemy territory and under a situation of life or death, Gary would have found it nice to just stop and take in everything around them. He always loved how the snow looked at night and he was positive that once he was done with this whole task force thing he would find himself a nice cabin somewhere out in the mountains to just relax in.

The sergeant would suddenly be pulled out of his thoughts as he stumbled slightly, the snow having gotten deeper and harder to walk in. He felt Simon pull him closer to his side to lend more support and Gary felt his heart skip at least several beats at the sudden action of the lieutenant who acted as if he had done nothing at all.

The entire journey was horribly agonizing for the sergeant. Having to drag his horribly injured leg through almost knee high snow was definitely not the most ideal situation he would have liked to be in. Gary would have let out a heavy sigh of relief when he heard the familiar sound of helicopter blades up ahead had it not been for the pain he felt in his chest. 

Luckily enough, their exfil had gone off without a hitch. 

Gary, Simon, and Ace split from MacTavish and his team into the second helicopter as the first one was already at capacity. Simon carefully helped Gary up into the aircraft before he followed after, finding himself a seat next to the sergeant while Ace sat opposite to them. 

As the rotors of the helicopter sped up and as the aircraft began to lift off the ground Gary relaxed into his seat. 

Somewhere along the way the sergeant had nodded off, his head leaning up against Simon’s shoulder. 

* * *

It had been about a week and a half since that mission. Most of Gary’s wounds had either healed completely or just were about healed in that time period. His leg was almost like brand new after having to receive stitches. However, he had also received a minor broken rib which the base’s doctor warned him was most likely to cause some problems if he didn’t take a break for a couple more days. Of course, the sergeant scoffed at the idea, as if he was going to just sit around base doing nothing. 

At the moment, Gary was sitting outside near the outskirts, watching and sketching other members who were practicing their aim on the shooting range. 

Feeling content with what he had down, Gary set down the pen he had been using and absentmindedly flipped through older pages. He quickly settled on two pages that had been filled out during a past reconnaissance mission. 

There were a variety of sketches of animals and trees and an odd note or two about the mission on the left page but he only scanned over them before his attention fell onto the right page. 

A large drawing of Simon knelt down and looking through the scope of a sniper rifle practically filled the entire right page. He remembered the exact night he had created the drawing. Both Gary and Simon had been stuck fiddling with the rifle's magnification for about half an hour as it had constantly been going out of focus. 

Gary smiled to himself as he thought back onto the memory, his eyes scanning the rest of the right page which were filled with other smaller sketches of the lieutenant.

The sudden feeling of something on his shoulder caused the sergeant to jump and just about slam the journal close.

“Whoa,” Simon’s voice soon followed, “didn’t mean to scare ya like that, mate.”

Gary took a deep breath as he turned to face the lieutenant, keeping the journal close to his body. 

“Really living up to that nickname of yours, huh?” The sergeant laughed, trying to calm his racing heart. 

Simon scoffed in response as he sat down next to Gary, “Christ, if I had _one_ quid for every single time somebody said that, could probably afford to get myself a different bloody name.” The Englishman grinned underneath his mask as Gary slightly moved over to give the lieutenant more space to sit. 

As the Englishman got himself situated in his seat he grew abruptly silent and Gary quickly looked over to find Simon eyeing his journal. Before Gary could even say anything, Simon was already speaking. 

“What’s that? Some kinda diary?” The lieutenant teased. 

Gary would simply pocket the small journal in reply. 

“Aw, come on, mate. I ain’t gonna go lookin’ through it, isn’t none of my business.” 

Gary scoffed in response, “Yeah, whatever.”

“What’s that s’posed to mean?”

“That’s what everyone says! It’s none of their business until they find it sitting out on a table. Then they end up looking through it as if reading it will answer the meaning of life.” 

Simon chuckled and shook his head in reply. “Well, you can trust me. I promise.”

“Promise? Whew, strong word. I’m definitely going to hold you up to that.” Gary smiled and he could sense Simon smiling back. 

For a moment, the two fell silent. Simon’s attention wandered off towards the soldiers at the range while Gary’s wandered over towards the lieutenant himself. He was wearing a fitted thin dark green long-sleeve. Gary eyed the lieutenant's arms, his defined muscles stretching out the tight fit of the sleeves. 

That was definitely one of the things Gary was envious of. Simon was obviously of a more built form compared to that of the sergeant. He couldn’t even keep track of how many times he had caught himself staring just a bit too long at the lieutenant's body. It soon struck him that perhaps it wasn’t envy he was feeling… but what else could it be?

“Hey,” Simon had suddenly broken the silence which caused Gary to practically rip his gaze away, “how’re you holdin’ up by the way?”

“Hmm?” Gary had been too hung up on looking at the lieutenant to have even heard his question. 

“You, how’re you holdin’ up? Y’know, injury wise? Everything all good?”

“Oh, well uh, pretty good for the most part. Got a minor fracture in one of my ribs, nothin’ too serious.” 

Simon tilted his head in question, “Not too serious? Mate, I’m pretty sure any fracture of any size is pretty serious, especially in this line of work.” 

“Wha- come on, it’s only minor. Besides, barely feel any pain at all.” Gary dismissively waved his hand as Simon continued to tilt his head, eyebrow now raised. 

“They recommended you take a break, huh?” Simon would question.

“Yeah?”

“Yet you’re here, and not hanging around the infirmary?”

“Yeah?”

“You told the doc to shove it, didn’t you?”

“Wh- no! Nothing like that. You make it sound so harsh. I just-”

“Chose not to listen to the doc?”

“N- well… when you put it that way...” Gary nervously scratched at the back of his neck while Simon silently chuckled to himself. 

“But seriously,” Simon would continue, “you’re still hurt. Could make it worse.”

“Hell are you? My mom?” Gary joked and Simon all but scoffed. 

“Just worried about you ‘s all. You were practically half dead when we found you at the crash.” 

“Yeah, well, I’ll be fine.” 

“I’m gonna hold you to that.” 

Gary grinned as Simon had now flipped the phrase that he had stated just a while ago onto him. 

Before either of them could say anymore, a third addition would soon join from behind. Both Gary and Simon turned to see who the newcomer was. There stood Archer, the sniper was clearly relieved to have come across the two in the way he silently mumbled ‘finally’ to himself. 

“Christ, been lookin’ for you two all over the bloody place. We got a briefing, MacTavish wanted me to go grab you both.” Archer watched as Gary and Simone exchanged glances at one another before they both stood up, almost in unison. 

It didn’t take long for the three to fall into step and Gary spoke up from behind the left shoulder of the sniper, “We got a new mission?”

“Yeah, from what I know it’s somewhere down in the Middle East, apparently there’s been some chatter of a few informants who have some dirt on Makarov.” Archer would answer without breaking stride. 

“Hell of a transfer from all that snow in Siberia and now into the desert?” Gary would speak up again and Archer all but shrugged his shoulders as the two continued further into the base. 

* * *

“We’ll be joining up with some of the Americans who are already stationed there. Some Rangers, if you want to be more specific.” MacTavish spoke from the front of the room, explaining the situation to the few dozen soldiers who were present. 

“How long?” From somewhere in the corner of the room Gary would question the Captain. 

“Not sure, few days at the most, might be more. Depends on how quick we can get on those informants so we’ll definitely be settling in for a bit. We’ll split into teams, cover more ground that way.” 

Gary mindlessly listened as MacTavish rattled off who was going to be with who and other information they would need. Then he called on both Gary and Simon, causing Gary to look back up and bring his attention back onto the captain. 

“Both of you, Roach, Ghost, I’m assigning you in a group with two Rangers when we get to their base. Ghost, you have the lead since you’ll be the highest ranking.” 

Simon would nod in reply and MacTavish would clap his hands together in a way to signal that the meeting was over. “Well, let’s get ourselves ready, lads. We leave at 0500 sharp tomorrow.” 

Gary had almost missed what the captain had said as he was too busy thinking about being partnered up with, Simon. Yeah, there were going to be an additional two but something about just hearing MacTavish specifically assign the two together made Gary feel something. It felt something like excitement but at the time he felt nervous. He was unsure why he was feeling the way he did, he’d been partnered up in groups with Simon in the past and it was always the same goddamn feeling every single time he heard their names paired up together in group assignments. 

The feeling of something bumping his shoulder brought him back to reality and he was met with the sight of Simon trying to bring him back to Earth. 

“You good there, mate?” 

“I… yeah. I’m good, just thinking over the whole thing. Let’s go, we’re going to have a long goddamn day tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wonder who the two rangers are, hm


End file.
